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27 April 2015

Review: Twisted Innocence by Terri Blackstock

Twisted Innocence is the final book in a trilogy, and the three books do need to be read in order, and (I believe) in quick succession, because Twisted Innocence builds on and concludes the overall series story arc. While I have read the previous two books, it was several months ago, and I had forgotten most of the details. As a result, I found the first quarter of Twisted Innocence slow, as though it was trying to tell new readers what had gone before without falling into an excess of backstory that those who did remember the earlier novels would find tedious and unnecessary.

Twisted Innocence focuses on Holly Cramer, the once-irresponsible younger sister of Cathy, Juliet and Jay. She’s now a more responsible woman: a single mother to five-week-old Lily who is working two jobs to try and earn enough money to cover her bills. She is mugged one night, and then finds out that one-night-stand Creed Kershaw knows he is Lily’s father, and is wanted in relation to a drug-related murder. And it seems Leonard Miller, the man who murdered Cathy’s fiance, is back in town …

There were good parts and bad parts to the story. The pace picked up once I got past the first quarter, which made it easier to read. The whole subplot about Michael in prison seemed unnecessary, as though he was only there so someone could observe one specific incident (the scenes where Cathy was petitioning to have Michael released were particularly tedious). However, there were flashes of brilliance:

“How come I didn’t get the decorating gene?” “It’s not genetic. It’s Pinterest.”

Who can’t relate to that?

There were also reminders that despite the “global village”, some things are still country-specific:

“She scooped [baby] formula into the only clean bottle she had and mixed it with bottled water.”

When I had my babies, while living in London, it was impressed upon us that we were always to fill the bottle, then add the formula powder (so we knew exactly how much water we had, to ensure we added the correct number of scoops) and never to use bottled water. Any midwives care to comment on this?

Overall, while Twisted Innocence was a good finish to the series, it would be better if I’d read all three books in quick succession, as it didn’t work well as a standalone thriller. Thankfully, now you can, and for the same price as buying one of the books: Zondervan has released a three-in-one volume.